Friday, November 11, 2011

Bath

This last weekend I hopped on various trains to make my way to the city of Bath.

I met a university friend there and we proceeded to have a fabulous weekend, sightseeing, shopping and eating clotted cream. The city itself is spectacular. It's walkable and pleasant, the buildings are beautiful and there's a river. (I love places with a river.)

On Friday night we found a tiny little Italian restaurant where we sat under the chef's nose and ate kidney bean soup, calamari, goat's cheese with the most spectacular grilled foccacia and cheese ravioli with pesto. On the Saturday we stopped for tea at Sally Lunn's (a Bath institution) where I had a Sally Lunn bun (like a brioche) with cinnamon butter and clotted cream.

Our bed and breakfast fed us spectacular poached eggs on toast and scrambled eggs with salmon. In between we walked the length and breadth of the city, seeing the Royal Crescent, the Roman baths, Pulteney bridge, and the abbey. We stopped at the various independent bookshops, Kitchens cookware shop and other quirky independent shops where it took all my will power to not blow my budget completely. It was Guy Fawkes on Saturday so we watched the fireworks display from the bridge. Oh for more weekends like this one.

The city provides free walking tours with knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides.

The gardens leading to the Royal Crescent are lovely and people are growing things in the oddest places.